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American Kidnap Victim's Body Exhumed

GUATEMALA CITY — The body of an American woman kidnapped and killed by Guatemalan gunmen was exhumed Tuesday from an unmarked grave in a cemetery in the capital, the U.S. Embassy said.

The woman, named by local newspapers as Oly Hopun de Seifert, 60, was abducted outside Guatemala City in mid-November and killed days later by unidentified gunmen after her Swiss husband was unable to meet ransom demands, embassy spokesman John Roney said.

Her body was dumped on a road 15 miles from the capital and buried a day later in an unmarked grave in the city's main cemetery after no one appeared to identify the body. When authorities discovered the body matched Hopun's description, her husband, Ulrich Seifert, requested an exhumation.

A wave of kidnappings and violence has swept Guatemala over the past month. President Ramiro de Leon Carpio said this week he feared it was part of an organized campaign to create instability. More than 30 bodies, most showing signs of violence, were brought to Guatemala City's morgue last weekend.